Births, deaths and ceremonies

Inquests and the Coroner Service, registering births and deaths, applying for copies of certificates and arranging ceremonies and citizenship.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Last updated: 3 June 2020 (reviewed daily)

The Government have confirmed that birth registration can resume from 1 June 2020. We're currently preparing our offices to ensure they are COVID-19 secure. In the meantime, we're running a pilot to trial birth registrations by video call. If your baby was born before April 15th you may be eligible to take part.

The government announcement (11 May 2020) stated that it was hoped to ‘permit small wedding ceremonies no earlier than 1 June 2020’. The statement made by the Prime Minister (28 May 2020) did not mention marriage/civil partnership so for the time being we have no further information to indicate when this may be possible. We have not been advised yet how many guests a ‘small wedding’ will include, or the costs that will apply, or where the ceremonies can be held. When we receive more information from the government we will update this page. For the time being we are not able to confirm any arrangements or take provisional bookings for 2020 ceremonies.

We are rescheduling existing ceremonies up to 31 August only with a range of options which are shown in service changes (ceremonies). As the government has indicated that the hospitality industry may be able to resume during July, our existing terms and conditions apply to ceremonies booked from September 2020 onwards.

We are accepting new bookings for 2021 onwards.

Citizenship ceremonies are postponed but all citizenship certificates have been extended for a further 6 months to allow longer to attend a ceremony when restrictions are lifted.